The Best of the Buddha Years

Performer: Barbara Mason
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Producers: Curtis Mayfield, JBP, Don Davis. Compilation producers: Rob Santos, Paul Williams. Includes liner notes by David Nathan. Digitally remastered by Elliott Federman (SAJE Sound, New York, New York). Barbara Mason's Buddha years spanned from 1971 to 1975 and represented a growth period from a wet-eyed soprano to a mature, throaty-singing, bodacious woman. While not as arresting to some as her teary breakout Artic Records sides, these were stellar waxings by a talented singer who had a unique way of phrasing lyrics, and who never hesitated to reveal the fragility of her mental being or often-bruised heart. The 14 tracks include an update of "Yes I'm Ready," complete with monologue, the scandalous (for the times) "Shackin' Up," and a bourbon/gin special "You Can Be With the One You Don't Love" that will have you reaching for a bottle. There's a fair share of he-say, she-say dramas: "Betty Crutcher" and Lester Snell's "From His Woman to You," Norma Toney's "So He Is Yours Now," a long salty version of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones" (revised as "Me and Mr. Jones"), and Mason's self-written dilemma, "Caught in the Middle." ~ Andrew Hamilton

Living Blues (9-10/01, p.81) - "...Her phrasing is still disarmingly direct..."

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